Category: Student Events

FELIX Editorship Drama: 1979

 

Just before the start of the 1979 Autumn term there was major controversy over who the editor of Felix (the student newspaper) should have been. John Shuttleworth was duly elected editor of Felix for 1979-1980 but was denied the sabbatical post because he had failed to meet the required academic standards of his current year of study. It ultimately ended up in the High Court after solicitors took action, and issued letters on John Shuttleworth’s behalf. In the end, Colin Palmer who had come second in the election race was appointed as acting Felix editor. When the new election for editor was run, he then won this to become the full-time sabbatical editor for that academic year.

Naturally STOIC were keen to follow all of this up and on 3 October 1979, Colin Palmer came into the studio to talk to Paul Johnson about the whole saga and what was to happen next.

Colin Grimshaw July 2024

ICU Hustings – Video Promos: 1978

Today’s clip is rather fun because it’s part of a series that were made for candidates to promote themselves in the forthcoming student elections. These were shown leading right up to the day of elections and this particular video was from Lunchbreak on 2 March 1978. This was not a pre-recorded programme but rather it was put out live from both the TV Studio and also from the Great Hall during the actual hustings. We won’t be seeing the hustings today, although we do have them on videotape in the archive. Chris Drage was on presenters duty for this programme and if you listen carefully you’ll hear me on continuity at the very start over the STOIC logo caption.

Colin Grimshaw July 2024

RCSU Mascot Raid: 1978

For the first edition of Lunchbreak in January 1978, James Sinclair had something exciting to talk about with the then recent (late 1977) RCSU raid on QMC’s (Queen Mary College) Leopard mascot (Mary the Leopardess). In the studio he spoke with Pete Maltbeck (President of RCSU) about what had happened. STOIC were also quick off the mark with some location footage of the mascot being removed from the RCSU office to an unknown location. Sadly, once again, this is during a time period of missing copies of Felix (1977-1978) so I can’t get any further information on the outcome of the raid.

Unusually, this was a live edition of the programme and I suspect that this was because term had only just started. One amusing thing is that just after James Sinclair starts talking you can hear the old college bells strike 1pm, the approximate time of the transmission.

Colin Grimshaw June 2024

RCS Spanner & Bolt Raid 1976

Today we have an extract from one of the oldest recordings from STOIC’s news programme. On the 15th December 1976 Clive Lewis and James Sinclair were both presenting the Christmas edition of Lunchbreak. Who could want a better news story for Christmas than a mascotry raid. There was a front page splash about it in FELIX the following day, so STOIC seemed to have got the news, and also the interviews, pretty fast. Now, this was shot a few days before Christmas and I think the various constituent college union members should have been kept away from the balloons…as you’ll see! James Sinclair is attempting to hold things together though.

This is very much a deteriorating archive recording so please bear with it because it’s 47 years old and I had a major problem getting the tape to play back.

Colin Grimshaw December 2023

 

Felix Editor Election: 1975

Mark Caldwell filming at Elstree Studios in September 1975

Today we go back to 1975 and a fragment of college history captured in the archive of STOIC. Very few items remain from this time period because of the very high cost of videotape. Programmes were recorded over the following week with a new programme, so we’re lucky that this survives today. On the 26 February 1975 Mark Caldwell was presenting the weekly news programme Lunchbreak in which the candidates for the post of Felix editor came into the TV Studio. Clive Dewey and Paul Ekpenyong were standing and also attending was Mike Williams, the then current editor. From Felix 7 March 1975 the results were 440 for Clive Dewey and 527 for Paul Ekpenyong who was declared the next editor for 1975/1976.

At 7mins 20secs into the video you will also hear something very rare indeed. The college bells on the top of Mechanical Engineering chiming 6pm. We must have had the windows open in the studio which was then located on level 3 of Electrical Engineering facing where the bells were. So not only do we know the date, but also the time of this recording, that’s unique.

Colin Grimshaw August 2023

Tiddlywinks: 1982

The first Tiddlywinks covered by STOIC was back in 1979 and that happened most years. This 41 year old report from October 1982 was different because it took place on the Kings Road, Chelsea and not the usual Oxford Street. Apparently, various warnings from the police had put Oxford Street off limits this particular year. Although the card index doesn’t indicate it, I think that this was also the first time that Tiddlywinks was covered in colour.

Donal Quigley took the camera crew into the depth of Chelsea on what looks like a rather damp and gloomy day. There’s also a half page coverage (P3) of the event in FELIX.

Colin Grimshaw July 2024

Varsity Day: 2008

I’m not really sure if this event still happens at Imperial. But back on 27 February 2008 it was certainly much heralded by the sports centre staff and hence our coverage of it.

With nine different sports, 23 matches and 46 teams, Varsity 2008 was packed with fierce competition. Harlington Sports Ground hosted hockey, football, lacrosse and rugby matches, also at the sports centre: netball, basketball, badminton, squash and waterpolo matches got underway. The day culminated  in the J.P.R. Williams Cup match at Richmond Athletic Association Ground between Imperial  College and Imperial Medicals Rugby 1st XV teams attracting over 1,000 spectators.

Colin Grimshaw May 2023

Oxford Street Chariot Race: 1972

I have a feeling that this is yet another RAG event that has long disappeared. The Chariot Race down Oxford Street from Speaker’s Corner was last referenced in FELIX way back in 1976 and has not been mentioned since. Well, until today of course because we have some silent 8mm film once again shot by STOIC. This was yet another item featured in their weekly news programme TOPIC. This particular item has suffered from the ‘home processing’ that was carried out on these black and white films. I think that a combination of over exposure and dodgy processing has resulted in rather poor quality. However, it is a wonderful record of what Imperial students used to get up to to raise money during RAG week 50 years ago.

This 8mm film that we have is from 1972 and is not even listed in the STOIC archive index. That is simply because the original videotape in which the film was used no longer exists. In this case I cannot find any corresponding audio, which I assume was added during the recording of TOPIC, so it will appear silent.

Colin Grimshaw October 2022

Inter-CCU Raft Race: 1979

The Inter-CCU Raft Race across the Serpentine in 1979 is yet another part of college history that’s very difficult to find anything about. I can certainly find several references to the event in Felix, but nothing about why it started. What I can tell you is that this 1979 race is the first I found mentioned, so it could have been the first race to happen and the reason why STOIC recorded it.

Of the listings in FELIX, there are only mentions of the fact that it’s happening or that it had already happened and which CCU won it (photo on right). Just one tiny extra piece I found was this ‘thanks’ from the Union President who said after the 1979 race: “Thanks to the Underwater Club for giving up their Sunday Lie-In to ensure the safety of the Raft Race“. And there was one photo in Felix announcing that RCS had won the race.

So sit back and enjoy this brief coverage of what may have been the very first Raft Race across the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park. It started in Prince’s Garden and then up the roads to Hyde Park.

Colin Grimshaw September 2022

Freshers’ Fair: 2007

In October 2007 we covered the Freshers’ Fair for the first time. Lots of the usual interviews with new students and an added bonus of a few words from Sir Richard Sykes who was then Rector of the college. This was the first time (maybe because it was the Centenary Year?) that Communications had shown any interest in the event being recorded. Prior to that, the first recorded time Freshers’ Fair had been covered was by STOIC and that was in 1980. In October 2019 I discovered that videotape and posted a blog with the original location report by Grant Richmond. Click the link to go to that blog.

The 1980 recording was of course in black and white, but we went into colour very soon after that. 2007 was in colour and widescreen and shot in digital format. Back in 1980 it was pretty awful low resolution black and white.

So here then is the first Freshers’ Fair covered by, and for, the college administration.

Colin Grimshaw August 2022